


She Never Really Existed

by Emerald_Heart12



Series: Miraculous One-Shot Collection [9]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien rejects Marinette, Angst, Lots of Angst, everyone's crying, platonic ladynoir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 03:37:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11073258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emerald_Heart12/pseuds/Emerald_Heart12
Summary: Title: She Never Really ExistedRating: KGenre(s): Angst, FriendshipCharacter(s): Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-ChengShip(s): LadyNoir? I guess?Summary: Marinette finally confesses her feelings to Adrien, who doesn't seem to reciprocate them. Or so he thinks. Things go awry when she tells him—as Ladybug, no less—that she knew he was Chat Noir before confessing.Excerpt: "You said you'd love the girl beneath the Ladybug mask, no matter who she was. But you lied, Chat. You lied, Adrien."Word Count: 712





	She Never Really Existed

"Chat?" Ladybug's voice was tight as she sat down next to him on the roof of the bakery that Marinette and her family lived above. 

He shook his head. He didn't want thoughts of Marinette right now.

Chat Noir looked at his partner, his love. He was about to toss a casual pun into a sentence to respond, when he saw her lip trembling and tears pooling up in her eyes. Just then, it started to rain.

Ladybug smiled at him, but it was too obviously forced. Chat would know the difference between a real smile and a forced one. He'd had to fake one too much for his own liking.

"Ladybug?" Of course, Chat was worried. Ladybug strung her yo-yo around her waist, allowing it to rest on her hip. She sat down, knees tucked into her chest.

"Do you remember..." her voice was shaking, but she still smiled at Chat. "Do you remember... last week, when I told you that my civilian identity wasn't worth the praise I get?"

Chat remembered. Ladybug had been torn up, thinking she was worthless.

"You told me... that my civilian self was just as amazing as Ladybug, didn't you?" she continued.

Chat nodded, unable to get the lump out of his throat.

"You lied, Chat Noir," she whispered. "Today, I... I confessed my feelings to the guy I like. And guess what, Chat?" Her tone was almost dry. "He rejected me. And for who? Ladybug."

Chat froze. The scenario... seemed so familiar...

Then again, half of Paris had a crush on Ladybug.

"I guess I can't blame him, though. Ladybug is... a portrayal of exactly the person I've always wanted to be. And then again, there are so many Parisian girls who like him, what with his own popularity."

No. There was no way. This was a coincidence. It had to be a coincidence. Surely it couldn't have been—

"You said that you'd love the girl beneath the Ladybug mask, no matter who she was. But you lied, Chat." she said, then meeting his eyes, he could see the tears trailing off her mask and down her cheek, blending with the rain. The fake smile that looked so bright. "You lied, Adrien."

Oh God. Oh, God. Oh, dear God. It was. It actually was her.

"M-Marinette..."

He had royally screwed up.

She ignored him. "When I found out who you were, I was ecstatic. Because it was the same day you told me that my civilian self was just as good as Ladybug."

Oh God, he'd said that.

"It was your first act of kindness that made me fall for you, Adrien. Your umbrella. It was raining.... just like now. You showed me that... you weren't the kind of person to bully me like Chloé would. You showed me your humility when you apologised. You showed me what love felt like."

Chat's brain was processing everything absurdly slowly.

"But you never actually looked beyond the perfect pedestal of 'Ladybug', did you? Because when shy, clumsy Marinette said she loved you, you told her you loved Ladybug."

Chat couldn't—it was tearing him apart.

"I don't blame you. I guess... once again, it was my fault. I didn't want you to find out who I was because you would be disappointed, so I let you love the perfect girl that never really existed. I guess I broke your heart as well, Chat. So I don't blame you."

Tears were slowly streaking down Chat's own face.

"So I decided... it was time to give this back."

Ladybug opened a black umbrella, held it out, still smiling.

Chat recognised the umbrella all too well.

"Don't cry, Chat. It wasn't your fault. I knew I was incompetent from day one."

"Marinette..." his voice was hoarse.

"It's okay, Chat. I just thought you should know that I'm not the perfect Ladybug you had envisioned. I've broken your heart by  letting you love a girl who wasn't even real."

"Oh my God, Marinette, I didn't—"

"Let's just keep it professional from now on, kitten." she said, shooting him one last smile. "I a-paw-logise."

Ladybug— _Marinette_ —left the umbrella in Chat's gloved hands as she opened the trapdoor beneath her and slid into the room below, just as Adrien's heart shattered into tiny pieces.

**Author's Note:**

> ♪ Angst, lovely angst! ♪( 'θ｀)ノ Okay, I'm sorry. I'm writing this at 2:00 am and I couldn't stop myself once I'd started typing. 
> 
> "I don't want to be a man," said Jace. "I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't control his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead."
> 
> That's my entire existence summed up right there, Jace. Well, except for the fact that I'm female.


End file.
